UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital is now open and providing advanced, patient-centered care close to home for residents of Douglas County and beyond.

During a special ceremony at 5 a.m. Tuesday, June 18, 2019, the hospital celebrated the opening with a flag-raising, singing of the national anthem and a blessing for the hospital, its staff and clinicians. At 5:30 a.m., Highlands Ranch Hospital opened its doors to patients.

“We have worked and prepared for this day for some time now, and we are proud to open our doors and welcome patients to our state-of-the-art facility designed for efficiency, safety, convenience and comfort,” said UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital President and CEO Diane Cookson. “Every detail of our new hospital has been developed with patient care as the priority, and I’m confident we’ll be able to provide the very best experience for our patients.”

With 74 inpatient beds and room to grow, the six-story hospital features a birth center including C-section operating rooms and Level III NICU, 18-bed intensive care unit, six operating rooms, a Level III trauma center and emergency department, advanced cardiac services and complete imaging capabilities including 3D mammography and PET/CT. The adjoining UCHealth Highlands Ranch Medical Center houses a two-story cancer center with advanced oncology services.

“We are excited to bring innovative care and an excellent experience to residents in one of the fastest growing areas of the state,” said UCHealth President and CEO Elizabeth Concordia. “It is important for us that our patients have access to advanced care close to home. With improved access to nationally recognized specialists, advanced treatments and clinical trials, we are making health care more convenient and effective, and helping people live their extraordinary lives.”

Many patients living in the Douglas County communities of Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Roxborough, Sterling Ranch, Ken Caryl and Columbine have been traveling to University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus for care. Now they have more options for care, including a cancer center, close to home. The two-story cancer center offers medical oncology, infusion, radiation oncology, clinical trials, surgical sub-specialties and affiliation with the state’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Specialists from the CU School of Medicine and University of Colorado Hospital offer clinical trials and innovative treatments sometimes years before they’re more broadly available, giving patients the best possible outcomes. This new hospital will allow patients in this area to receive many of these advanced treatments without having to travel to the Anschutz Medical Campus,” said UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Purcell, who is also the associate director for clinical services at the CU Cancer Center. “This is important, because it ensures patients receive the best and most advanced care.”

Additional services not previously offered in this community that patients may now receive at Highlands Ranch Hospital include:

• Women’s health services: Birth center, C-section ORs, breast care
• Level III NICU
• Intensive care unit
• Advanced cardiac services: cath lab, interventional radiology, electrophysiology
• Complete imaging capabilities
• 24-hour retail pharmacy and laboratory
• Spine care
• Orthopedic care
• Neurosciences including telestroke

Approximately 500 employees are on staff to care for patients, guests and the facility. They’ll be joined by hundreds more providers, as UCHealth partners with community physicians and the University of Colorado School of Medicine to provide care at the new hospital.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission will survey the hospital this summer. Following CMS accreditation, the hospital will be able to care for Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare patients.